[GNC] Split transaction problem

[Stan Brown (using GC 4.14)]

On 2025-12-08 08:05, Ed Greenberg wrote:
> If I try to edit the transaction later, GC requires that I use one
> particular account.  I'm not sure how it decides where I should edit the
> transaction.

This is what happens (and is supposed to happen) if you have not yet
committed the transaction by pressing the Enter key. Otherwise you would
be editing the same transaction in two registers, which raises the
possibility of making incompatible edits?

But when you are editing an existing transaction that includes say
accounts A, B, and C, it shouldn't make any difference which register of
A, B, and C you edit it in. If you're experiencing something different,
please give more details, including your GC version and your OS.

> If I try to do it in the "salary net" account, as soon as "salary net"
> disappears from the split, the transaction seems to save and vanish, so I
> edit it in the checking account side, deleting salary net, replacing it
> with "gross pay" and a set of deductions.  Am I doing this right?"

A transaction is "anchored" in a register when the transaction contains
a split referencing that account. If you change the account in that
anchoring split, the transaction is no longer anchored to that register,
so it will indeed move to the proper register. This happens when you
commit the transaction by pressing Enter.

For this reason, if you're making complicated edits, it's probably best
to do that in a register where you won't be disturbing the anchor. Or
simply don't commit the transaction till you've made your edits to it:
use the Tab key to move around within the transaction, or use your mouse
to click into the desired fields. But if you're in the habit of hitting
Enter after every change, it can be hard to retrain yourself.

Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com